Iggy Pintado, managing director, IDC ANZ, says the research and analyst firm is integrating its businesses into a single IDC Australia/New Zealand team. Peter Wise will depart, as Pintado is also taking on the duties of country manager in New Zealand. Pintado says IDC ANZ will continue to support the NZ market through the local sales and analyst teams.

Peter Wise

Bryce Johnson steps up to the chief technology officer role at the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Bryce Johnson

He will be responsible for MPI’s technology layers from an infrastructure, telecommunications, applications and integration perspective. Before this, Johnson was manager service delivery at MPI.

John Brett is appointed Wellington general manager for Clearpoint.

John Brett

His plans for ClearPoint include partnering with several government and banking clients in the Wellington region, growing the value ClearPoint delivers for its clients and leading the emergence of new technologies with the team.

Given the aim of introducing an R&D tax incentive was to support a broader range of eligible firms, it was excellent to see that the government has listened through the consultation process and taken on board advice to reduce the minimum level to $50,000 and increase the rate to 15 percent, says Muller.

“This has been introduced for one year initially which will provide time for further consultation with the market to ensure an appropriate scheme is designed,” he says.

Graeme Muller

He points out New Zealand has a growing number of successful software firms like Xero, Pushpay, Soul Machines and Vend which spend significant amounts on R&D as their products need constant development.

He has served as the practice manager for the Digital Development Unit of the World Bank, leading a global team of technology professionals and economists to support developing countries on policies and programmes relating to broadband infrastructure, mobile networks, digital services, and digital industry. He was also a senior member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), and helped the state of Andhra Pradesh, India to become a key international destination for IT-based services.

“The game-changing impact of emerging technologies on economic and societal change is being increasingly appreciated,” says Sudan. "I am excited to be contributing to Ecosystm’s future growth by shining the spotlight on the socio-economic value created by new technologies.”

Unisys has introduced the FamilyNow child portal to help child welfare case workers more easily Communicate with children at risk.

The portal allows children at risk aged 13 and under to enter information about their lives while under the supervision of a caseworker.

The portal is accessible via any web-enabled device and features a graphical interface that makes it easy for foster children 13 and under to share information, photos and more, with access and content approved by caseworkers.

“It’s not uncommon for today’s child welfare worker to have between 20 and 30 cases, with many of those cases involving multiple children,” says Richard Amer, director of digital governments, Unisys Asia Pacific.

“Workers often struggle just to see children in the required timeframes, let alone develop relationships through constant communication. The FamilyNow Child Portal makes this possible so that caseworkers can more easily take action and focus on outcomes.”

He points out the recent message of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the UN Social Good Summit that one of the 12 priorities of the government is to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. “Not to raise children, but to be a child.”

“That goal comes into sharp relief when we consider the lives of children at risk,” says Amer. “By making it easier for those children to communicate with people who are able to help them we can indeed, support them to reach their full potential and so make the world a better place for them.”

Enlighten Designs has earned Microsoft’s coveted Co-Sell Ready designation through the Microsoft One Commercial Partner Programme. Enlighten now joins an exclusive group of global software integrators that Microsoft has selected for comprehensive sales and marketing support, and go-to market initiatives.

To attain this designation, Enlighten Designs met Microsoft’s stringent requirements for proven competency, capability, and cloud expertise. Under the new partnership, Enlighten Designs is already working with Microsoft Azure field sales teams and partners on targeted customer opportunities.

“We are very excited to welcome Enlighten Designs as a new SI partner specialising in the data and analytics space,” says Ryan Tarak, partner development manager at Microsoft New Zealand.

"Microsoft’s sales and marketing investment in the Co-Sell Ready program demonstrates our commitment to supporting partners’ go-to-market efforts and their success. Working together we can achieve more and empower customers to achieve more too.”

Christchurch-headquartered Information Leadership has been announced as one of 24 companies globally that are Charter Members of Microsoft’s Content Services Partner Programme for FY19 and is the only New Zealand company in this select group. Information Leadership is also the only company in Asia-Pacific to be recognised in the Advisory and Implementation categories.

Microsoft New Zealand’s national technology officer, Russell Craig, says Information Leadership has a long-standing and well-deserved reputation as a leader in enabling organisations to unlock the power of information and knowledge.

Russell Craig

Information Leadership director, Sarah Heal, says the company is pleased to be acknowledged for its innovations in designing and implementing Microsoft’s on-premise SharePoint and cloud-based Office 365, to deliver cost-effective customised solutions to clients.

“We have been really excited to work with the Microsoft platform for more than 10 years. With the arrival of Office 365 in particular, New Zealand organisations and government agencies at last have an alternative to old-style, costly document and records management systems users do not like or wholeheartedly use,” says Heal.

She says some organisations start implementing Office 365 and end up with fragmented and underwhelming solutions, or are not sure where to start particularly if they already have a document management system. That’s where we come in, designing solutions for clients that deliver ease of use and flexibility as well as a high degree of confidence and control,” says Heal.

Jucy CEO Tim Alpe says the group is opening a pod hotel in Auckland’s central business district before the yearend.

Alpe says while the hotel is primarily designed for budget international tourists, they also expect to see a number of conference delegates visiting from overseas; as well as long term commuters from around NZ who may come to the city for work two-three days a week regularly.

“The new pod hotel will have a number of flexible work spaces able to accommodate longer term business travellers. As part of the accommodation package the pod hotel will provide office facilities to this market,” says Alpe.

Alpe says the concept of a hybrid between accommodation and flexible working space has started to appear overseas and believes it will work in New Zealand.

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